Infection
by TheHawk5476
Summary: After crash landing on a hostile planet ODST John Bower must find his squad mates and uncover the mysteries on Draxus Prime. Please read and review


**Prepare To Drop: January 23rd 2553**

**Location: Orbit Above Draxus Prime**

There was another rumble as the ship shook and Corporal John Bower stumbled and was forced to steady himself against the bulkhead. Since the war with the Covenant had ended three months ago the UNSC had found itself mainly in a diplomatic roles as the independent races of the Covenant split up, and the Elites and humans tries to form a joint alliance between the races.

It hadn't gone smoothly.

After several months of debate and compromise they had all finally agreed to a deal, the remaining colonies of all the species would be split up proportionally between the races. This had left humanity with a large number of systems under it's control and, within a month of the treaty being formally agreed upon, the Insurrection had returned.

That brought him back to his immediate concern. The UNSC had lost contact with the planet Draxus Prime a week ago and had decided to dispatch a single ship, the UNSC destroyer _Resolute_. Almost as soon as they entered the system there had been trouble, in orbit had been several small but tough freighters converted into warships for the Insurrectionist cause and they had opened fire on the _Resolute_.

Although the more heavily armed destroyer had easily destroyed the enemy ships had launched an electromagnetic pulse just as they were destroyed, sending the destroyer into an irreversible atmospheric tumble.

That was where they were now, slowly losing altitude as they fell through the atmosphere, with no power to the engines. While most would be leaving the ship in a Pelican, or in pieces, Bower had the special privilege of being an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, a member of the elite, 105th ODST Regiment. As such he and his squad, consisting of Sergeant Dutch Miles, CO, Corporal Mickey Crespo, Lance Corporal Melissa Taylor , Private Francis Donovan and himself would be leaving the ship in their SOEIVs and free falling to the planet below. The squad had been put together after the Battle Of Earth in which Mickey and Dutch had fought, although they never talked about the devastating conflict. He himself had been in the UNSC since 2541 when he had been stationed aboard the UNSC _Aegis Fate_ but had been badly injured during their battle at Reach, rendering him too injured to fight at the Ark.

Melissa was an enigma to him, she was considered the squad's rookie, although nobody called her such. She had joined the UNSC as soon as she became eighteen, in late 2552 and had volunteered for the ODSTs. That was all he knew about her though since this squad was her first posting since she finished training.

Bower skidded round another corner, the drop bay was almost in sight but suddenly, behind him he heard a nasty grinding noise and the wall just a few metres away exploded outwards, knocking him to the ground. Dazed and disorientated he knew that if he didn't get to his pod in the next minute or so he wouldn't be getting off the ship at all.

As he entered the waiting room adjacent to the drop pod chamber he heard a yell, "Get in here now Corporal!" It was Mickey!

"Yes Sir!" he yelled back over the sounds of the disintegrating ship. He leapt towards his pod, grabbing a his SMG as he went. The ran through the launch sequence for the pod and strapped himself in. As all checks came in green he slammed his fist into the launch button and, after a massive acceleration from the initial launch explosives, he felt himself in free fall.

He finally had a chance to look down at the planet he was headed for, not that it helped him much, most of the planet was covered in murky fog and the patches that weren't just revealed a barren landscape devoid of any obvious features.

The pod began to rattle as it hit the atmosphere and flames licked up around the bottom of the pod, rising the interior to an uncomfortable temperature and then, he was through. Streaking through the clouds until suddenly he was jerked with the sudden deceleration as his chute opened taking him below the sound barrier.

With a shudder the chute broke away, a design feature to save an occupant from the hostile ground fire as the dropped the last thousand feet. Then, with a horrible crunch and the screeching of sheering metal the pod smashed into the ground, bounced, rolled more times than he could count and to a smashing halt at the foot of a tree.

As he looked up and out of the pod window the world shifted in and out of focus, he could make out the movement of trees in the wind and the steady drip, drip, drip of water but that was all. Then, the edges of his vision began to darken and he fell into unconsciousness.

**Draxus Prime: January 24th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Location Unknown**

Pain. That was the first thing that registered with John Bower as he jerked upright in his pod, hitting his head on the glass with a dull _thunk_. He looked around at the inside of the pod, it was a wreck, the ration pack all pods came with was strewn over the floor, some of the packets had split, spewing some sort of meal all over the floor. He looked to his side and saw that, thankfully, his SMG was where he had left it.

As he lay there thinking about what to do a dull hiss came from the radio, followed by a voice, "-Donavon the UNSC _Resolute_, does anyone read me? Over." Bower lifted his hand, flicking the sauce from an opened meal from his fingers and hit the comm button. "Roger, this is Bower, I hear you Donavon, where are you?"

"Oh thank God!" groaned the man from the other end, "My location is 40:26:46 North,79:56:55 West. Please get here fast Sir, there's something moving out there!" whispered Donavon, his voice terrified. "I'll get there asap, have you had contact from the others?"

"Negative Sir, your the first person I've made contact with since I made landfall, I'll lay low until you arrive."

Shit, thought Bower, he knew Dutch had made it off the _Resolute_ and now Donavon but what about the others. Leaning forwards he punched each of the charges to release the canopy and with a snap hiss it flew off.

As he climbed out he accessed his helmet's systems and input the coordinates Donavon had given him, straight towards the nearby hill. A hike. Great.

His boots sunk in as he walked up the steep slope and rain began to fall. Light at first but slowly developing into a downpour. The terrain was difficult and his body ached from his escape in orbit and then his shaky landing. From the top of the hill, though the rain, he could just about make out a thin trail of smoke rising into the sky, beside the pod he could make out a human shape stumbling around the wreckage, seemingly lost. "Kid must have been shaken up by the crash more than I thought." muttered Bower to himself and began to make his way down the slope, progress was slow, this side of the hill was much more rocky than the other, and in the rain in was slippery. The last thing he wanted to do was slip and break a leg, if he did, the timing couldn't be much worse.

As he neared the crash he began to make out more detail, the pod had carved a deep groove in the ground, presumably it had launched at an odd angle as the _Resolute_ had been spinning erratically, from the look of the crash it was a miracle the young ODST had survived.

"Donavon! Over here!" called Bower, spotting the figure he had seen moving around from the top of the hill. The figure turned and began moving towards him, but it didn't move the same way Donavon had, it sort of lumbered, body leaning to one side. Without even knowing why Bower drew his gun and pointed in the general direction if the approaching form. When it was about ten metres distant he was able to make out features. It was Donavon alright but he had changed almost beyond recognition. His skin had gone yellowy green and almost looked to be peeling off, his eyes, red and blood shot, stared at him hungrily, his hair, once black and neatly brushed was now wild and unkempt.

Raising his gun he pulled the trigger, unleashing a five round burst into the creature which had been Donavon, it stumbled but kept coming. Bower took a step back but then the creature leapt, animal like towards him, eyes hungry. Retreating quickly John tripped over a log and fell backwards, accidentally letting a few rounds loose as his finger pulled the trigger, to his surprise the creature which had been charging him collapsed forwards, holes blown through it's skull. Blood flowed freely, thick and red, it stained Bower's black ODST body armour dark red, the rain mixed with the blood forming red puddles on the ground.

The next thing to hit him was the smell, it was a sweet, almost sickly smell. The smell he had grown almost used to in the Human-Covenant War, when he had been pinned down by enemy fire for days at a time, stuck in a filthy muddy trench. It was the smell of death, the smell of rotting flesh, as smell he knew well but just couldn't quite get used to. No one could.

As he heaved the corpse off of himself and onto it's back he got a closer look. It reminded him of the Flood but he knew it wasn't. It lacked the mutations to the body and feathery antennae the alien parasite sported. This could only be described as one thing, in his mind, it was a zombie.

He turned away in horror, panic beginning to set in. What had made Donavon turn into a zombie? Just an hour ago he had been talking to the man, now he was dead. He wheeled around, looking desperately into the mist, desperate to see any signs of what had changed his fellow ODST. But he saw nothing. Just the mist and the wind and the encroaching darkness. He needed to get somewhere safe, but he had no idea where he was, his pod had lost all navigation systems after his crash landing.

Then, an idea struck him, he headed over to Donavon's pod, the canopy smashed open, blood staining the edges of the ragged hole where Donavon had either exited or been pulled out. He activated the external release catch and the hatch swung open. The interior of the pod was a sea of blood but beneath the puddles of it Bower could make out the glow of the nav console. He wiped away the coagulating blood from the screen and downloaded a copy of the local area map to his VISR and moved as far away from the blood soaked area as possible before pulling the map up onto his screen.

Unfortunately all he had was a map of the local area, he wouldn't be able to get far with it but right at the edge of the map was a small sensor outpost. That would have to do as a destination, maybe he would be able to contact any other survivors from there.

He set a nav point on his HUD and began the three kilometer walk to the outpost, all the time wary of the infected that could be anywhere.

**Draxus Prime: January 24th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Near Outpost 112B**

As he walked down the rough track, worn down by the wheels of years worth of Warthogs using it as the only way of getting to the outpost. The rain had finally let up a little and fallen down to a drizzle, he was thankful for the rain, it had washed the literal liters of blood from his armour.

Frankly, he still couldn't believe what he'd seen although he knew it was true. Suddenly, out of the murky darkness emerged the distinct outline of a relay dish. The outpost. At last, the weather may have let up but it was still almost pitch black and his VISR did little to improve his vision given the barren terrain.

As he neared the looming structure he began to make out details. It was a large relay dish mounted atop a square, uninspiring building with high windows and few doors. Next to this was a larger, rectangular building, made of the same red brick. What struck him most was the sense of abrupt abandonment, it was as if the occupants of the outpost had simply vanished into thin air. That, and the smell. It was sweet, sickly smell which put him on edge, it was the smell of death.

Unclipping his SMG he headed for the relay building, he needed to be able to contact someone, anyone, to find out what the hell was going on. The closer he got to the building, the further away he wanted to be. The big, heavy steel doors to the structure looked as though something had hit them, and smashed them open, denting the heavy steel plates.

As he entered the building he swung around, checking all the corners, butt of his gun firmly in his shoulder. After checking all over the room, under tables, inside cupboards and in the adjacent corridors, he was finally content he was alone he began to examine the place. It was messy. There was blood all over the place. It looked as though people had been holding the door shut but then, when it had been smashed down, they had been knocked into the wall on the other side of the room, leaving bloody streaks as they slid down the wall.

Just as he was preparing to head into the corridor next to the room there was a clinking moving around above him. He looked up but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The air vents running along the ceiling didn't move and there was no sign of damage to them.

After several minutes just standing in tense silence, just waiting he finally accepted he must have been hearing things and moved on. He continued his clearing procedure as he entered the corridor and moved along until he came to a set of stairs leading up to the second floor.

Carefully he navigated his way up and cautiously entered the next room. A single fluorescent light flickered on and off above him, casting an eery light over the scene before him. It looked as though the room had been used as a makeshift morgue, the table were covered in bodies in varying states of decay. Maggots poured from the eye sockets of some, others so old that bone was showing in places through the rotting skin. Surrounding all the bodies, however, was that same sickly sweet stench of death.

He heard a rustle in the corner and turned around just in time to see a large black shape come hurtling at him out of the darkness.

It charged at him, shoulder lowered and smashed into his midsection, sending him tumbling to the floor. A flurry of fists pounded him as he lay, attacker straddling him, on the floor. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" he yelled as loud as he could, despite the risk wandering undead may hear him.

Suddenly, his command was obeyed and his attacker looked at him, and he looked back. It was another ODST. The assailant pulled off the black helmet and he recognised the face instantly. Melissa Taylor. A grin, not of happiness, but relief spread across her face, "Thank god", she groaned, "thought you were one of those things." Her reference obvious.

"Sir, what happened, I know what happened to the _Resolute_, but what happened here?" she asked motioning to the situation around them. The bodies, the blood and the undead. "I don't know", Bower confessed, "and forget all that Sir crap, I don't care about rank right now. How long have you been here?" he asked, anxious to keep moving lest any zombies get interested.

"I hit dirt about an hour ago, checked my map, headed this way. Half way here I saw figures in the mist so I called them, I knew something was wrong by the way the moved." She shuddered at the thought of the living corpses, "One almost got me but I managed to fight them off, by the way, if you see more, aim for the head, seems to be the one way of dropping them." she explained.

"Understood." he replied, "Donavon's dead, they got him almost as soon as he landed, Have you heard from the others?" She hung her head a little and he already knew her answer wouldn't give him much hope. "We shouldn't stay here, we'll check the other building then try and access the comms and if that fails try and get a better map. Lets go."

Then, like a switch had been flicked, dozens of groans rose up from around them, and the bodies began to stir.

**Survivors: January 24th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Outpost 112B**

Melissa's face as white as a sheet as she pulled her helmet back on, he knew his was too as he did the same and together they turned and sprinted towards the door, firing rounds at the first zombies to awaken. They practically flew down the stair and back into the room Bower had cleared so carefully earlier. He saw the door had been shut again, but not locked due to the fact that it was bent out of shape, a single zombie guarded it, a table wedging the door shut to the outside world. "Cover me!" Bower yelled and headed for the zombie guard, releasing a precise burst at the creature's head. It exploded like an overripe melon, showering the area with bits of brain. Desperately John grabbed the table and tried to wrestle it free but it was jammed.

He looked behind him and saw Melissa on one knee, pistol pointed at the corridor entrance doing her best to hold off the undead horde, but they were slowly overwhelming her. "Hurry up John!" she yelled back to him and he tugged more furiously. The sound of zombies getting ever closer. Then, he felt the table slip and it began to move. He heaved it and managed to shift it out of the way of one door, "Got it!" he bellowed over the gunfire and she turned, stood and dashed towards the exit, undead right on her heels.

Bower leapt through the door and turned, determined to use it as a bottle neck to crush their attackers. As she came through Melissa followed suit and turned, then, as the zombies shambled though the door, they opened fire. Despite their superior numbers the monstrosities were no match for two fully trained and armed ODSTs who quickly coated the area around the door in coagulated zombie blood.

As the last one fell, Bower's gun clicked empty. Lucky timing. "That was close." muttered Melissa as she reloaded her pistol. "We need to check that other building." he ordered, motioning to the single story structure. Melissa groaned and gave him an incredulous look, "You're joking right?"

"Does it sound like I am?" he asked back, his voice perfectly serious. Her shoulders slumped and she followed him towards the doors.

The second building was in better condition than the other one, less bodies and blood as well. Noticing the sign on the wall John called her over, "This was the outpost's bunkhouse and infirmary, we should see if anyone had a weapons stash or at least look for some medical supplies, we'll end up needing them sooner or later." he explained. She nodded and strolled off to look at the medical cabinets while Bower headed over to the bunk area.

As he moved among the dozens of bunk beds, he carefully checked the footlockers for anything that could be useful. He found an M6C with a few mags but that was all and by the time he was onto the last row of bunks he was getting bored. Then, he heard a groan from the bed beside him and a pale hand reached out towards him. "Shit!" he screamed and leapt back shooting the outstretched hand, almost blowing it off.

There was a similar yell from below the bed, although of pain rather than shock, and a figure slowly dragged itself out from under the bunk. As the figure straightened up Bower realised he had been mistaken, the hand he had shot had belonged to a living human. "What the fuck!" yelled the man as he stumbled on near skeletal legs towards him, "Why'd you shoot me?" he asked, his voice not angry but shocked and disbelieving, his eyes wild and his hair unkempt. "Sorry." mumbled Bower, he had always hated apologizing.

Melissa came running towards him, pistol at the ready until she saw the haggard man standing next to him, blood oozing from his hand and dripping onto the floor. She signed in relief and motioned for the man to come with her.

…

After she had finally managed to stem the bleeding and wrapped a gauze around the wound the man was looking overwhelmed. Bower finally decided to approach him and find out what had happened, "Hi, my name's Corporal John Bower, sorry about earlier", the man scowled, "I need to know, who are you, what happened here, where is everyone?"

The tired man sat down on one of the steel benches, resting his head in his hands and then looked up, his eyes a little glazed as he thought about the past, "Name's James SmithSmith, just over a week ago we lost contact with some of the sensor outposts even more remote than this dump, steadily the comm blackout spread over the planet, now no one can get any sort of comms gear to work. Then people started going missing, just a few people at first, from distant townships, but then, as we lost contact with the towns, those… things, started coming into the city, loads of them. The Marines put up a fight but we didn't have a chance. This place got hit about four days ago, although that's just a guess, I've been hiding under that bed since everyone else got taken out. Most people holed up in the relay building, after that got hit the freaky things just went quiet. That's all I know." since he had started speaking the man's face had steadily gotten paler as he thought about what had happened.

"John, I hear something!" Melissa half whispered from the doorway, as she ducked behind the door frame so that whoever or whatever was coming wouldn't see her. Listening carefully Bower could hear it too, the roar of an engine, and then it twigged, a Warthog. "Melissa, that's a Warthog engine, but remember it might not be friendly so keep your gun handy." he ordered, heading for the door himself.

Out of the mist he could slowly make out the shape of a Warthog getting closer, leaning over a little to one side. He heard a crunch of gravel as the vehicle came up the track on the final approach to the outpost.

As it came nearer John could make out a figure hunched in the driver's seat, head against the steering wheel. Unconscious. Shit, he thought, if the Warthog hit the wall and got ruined they'd have no easy way to get back to civilisation. Then, his horrors were realised as, with an almighty rev and a horrible crunch the Warthog smashed into the corner of the building, knocking though the brick and causing the whole corner of the building to collapse into the back seats of the vehicle.

"Melissa!" yelled Bower, gesturing for her to follow him as he jogged over to the wreckage. The driver was still out cold, blood oozing from the cuts on his face and slowly dribbling down the steering wheel. John grabbed the man under his shoulders and yanked him and over the rim of seat, onto the ground and away from the crash site.

Aside from the wounds to his face his body was also badly injured, explaining why he was unconscious on arrival. There were lacerations all over his body, deep gashes, cutting down all the way to the bone. His ribcage was visible through the wounds despite the fact he was still alive. One of this legs was bent in the wrong direction several times over, spikes of bone sticking through his flesh. Wherever he had come from it had been a war zone and it was a wonder he was still alive, albeit barely.

Melissa rushed over, bandages and anti-septic in hand, until she saw the state of him and her hands dropped to her sides. "Just get him a stimulant, I need to talk to him." Bower ordered, his voice dark. Melissa pulled out a hypodermic from her pocket and stuck directly into his heart, easily accessible thanks to the gaping holes in his chest.

As she stuck the needle into his heart and injected his eyes flew open and he screamed, a scream that only a man who was awake in his excruciating last moments could make. "Calm down, who are you, where are you from?" asked Bower, doing his best to stay calm despite the obvious fact the man was dying, "Sam Fisher, I came from the base two miles away", he gasped out, blood bubbling and frothing around his mouth as he spoke. "I was on patrol with a few others when they attacked us, there was loads of the things, but there was something else, something new, I didn't get a good look, it smashed three of us into pulp right away. I got back to the Warthog but the other survivors went off the other way, I… arrgh!" he groaned, blood pouring freely from the wounds in his face, chest and from his mouth. His eyes rocked back in their sockets and he lapsed back into unconsciousness. Bower could only watch his heart, through the gaping wound in his chest as it slowed down until it eventually, stopped. And he was dead.

Bower's head hung low, another man dead. "Melissa, do you have any matches?" he asked quietly and she produced a packet from he jacket pocket. Bower took it, stood and walked over to the Warthog and drained a small amount of fuel from it, and poured it into a small cup. He carefully walked back over to the body and tipped it over it then lit the match and dropped it. The corpse burst into flames and it was quickly devoured leaving nothing but a charred skeleton.

John walked sadly back over towards the building and sat down on the metal bench next to Smith, "That man said he came from a nearby base, we might be able to salvage that Warthog he came in and get there, I need to link up with the rest of my squad if they made it off out ship. Do you think you can help with the 'hog?" Smith nodded slowly and stood, wandering out of the room and began picking up smaller bits of rubble from around the crash. Melissa and John followed suit, although they took care of the larger bits due to King's weakened state.

It was a full hour before the Warthog was finally uncovered enough for Bower to be able to get under the bonnet and have look. When he finally did he felt a mixture of relief and worry, the engine looked to have survived the impact so the Warthog would still be able to move, but the coolant system was a mess, the icy liquid used to cool the engine was in puddles all over the place and slowly dripping out onto the ground. They'd have to be careful, if the 'hog overheated and broke down in the middle of nowhere, they'd be dead within a few minutes if enough zombies turned up.

Even as he made his prognosis the light was beginning to fail, the sun, although invisible through the thick fog that filled the air, was steadily falling below the horizon Night was approaching."Everyone, into the barracks, it's the safest place we've got and it won't matter if the 'hog works if we're dead." ordered Bower, a sense of urgency in his voice as he ushered the others inside.

He turned around as he entered and swung the heavy steel door shut and put the bar across it, keeping it firmly shut. With the entrance now secure he turned to inspect the situation. Melissa was sat on the bench inspecting a long cut along her arm and wiping away the blood with an anti-bacterial wipe, while James lay on one of the bunks, half staring at Melissa.

He walked slowly over towards her and sat down, "One of us needs to be awake at all times tonight, I don't want those things sneaking up on us, we'll split the night into two hour shifts, I'll go first and wake you when it's your turn. Get some sleep." he motioned to the bunk area and she stood, tying a bandage around her arm before lying down and gingerly resting her head against the dirty pillow.

**Road Trip: January 25th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Outpost 112B**

As the sun rose over Outpost 112B John Bower was almost unaware as he inspected the contents of the cabinets around the room, many contained medical supplies which he threw into a duffel and slung it over his shoulder, it would be a perilous journey to the base and meds would come in handy.

He looked over at his fellows, both were soundly asleep, he and Melissa had spent the night rotating their shifts, neither got much sleep, so when her turn came around an hour before he opted to let her get some extra sleep. Now, as the dim light from outside could be made out around the edges of the door he knew it was time to wake the others. He strode over to James first, the man still looked pale but a little less so than the day before. The bandage around his hand was stained red with his blood but it was at least all dried.

He shook Smith awake then went over to Melissa and did the same, her eyes shot open, a slightly panicked look on her face until she realised it was him and relaxed a little. "It's time." he said simply, and she nodded. She sat up, gathering her hair behind her head and deftly tying it up. She swung her legs out over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching as she did so. "Better get going then." she sighed and strode over to pick up her weapon and equipment from the floor. She strode over to the door and heaved the bar up and threw it to the ground. "No!" yelled John as she pulled the door open, through the door leapt a zombie, decaying flesh falling from it's face, the putrid smell filled the air and Melissa was on the floor in seconds, the undead body on top of her roaring.

Before Bower had a chance to draw his weapon the creature bit down onto her shoulder, taking a large chunk out of her arm. She screamed in pain even as Bower decapitated the creature with a single shot from his pistol, rotting head exploding and showering the area with gore. John didn't even have time to think as another zombie lumbered in through the door but it too was quickly felled with a well aimed shot.

Enemies dealt with John turned back to Melissa who was writhing in agony on the floor, screaming in pain. Her skin had gone a pale green. "Melissa!" he cried into her ear, his voice hoarse, but she didn't respond, she just kept screaming, she wouldn't stop. Suddenly, Smith was beside him and threw him to the side with surprising force for a man in his condition and injected Melissa from a large hypodermic. She went limp, her screaming stopping. Blood continued to drip from her wound, puddling on the floor, Bower and Smith were covered in it. Surprisingly calmly Smith produced a bottle of disinfectant, a piece of gauze and another syringe from his pack. After cleaning and bandaging the gaping bite wound he made to inject her again, but John stopped him. "James... What are you doing to her?" his voice was full of worry and a tinge of fear and he knew it. But he didn't care, somehow being stranded on this hostile planet had brought the two of them closer together. "While she was screaming I gave her a powerful anesthetic to keep her down, now I've cleaned and bandaged the wound I need to inject her with this", he gestured with the needle in his hand, "it'll delay the infection until we can get her to the base where they have a proper cure."

Bower sunk to his knees and nodded sadly for James to continue. Trying to keep his mind off Melissa he went outside to check for more zombies and make sure the Warthog was ready to go. Relief flooded through him as he saw no zombies at all the Warthog where he had left it, windscreen broken and a puddle of coolant underneath, but it would do the job. He strode back up the steps into the barracks to see Smith putting his kit back together, Melissa lying on the floor, a pronounced green tinge to her skin. He knelt down and put his arms under her knees and back and lifted her up bridal style. He turned and made for the door, followed swiftly by James who shut the door behind them. He loaded Melissa into the back seat, making sure she was strapped down, making sure she wouldn't fall off or, more importantly, be able to reach them if she woke up.

Bower leapt into the driver's seat and James rode shut. John pressed the ignition button and the Warthog coughed into life, they were ready to go.

…

The journey had been uneventful, zombies had no hope of keeping up with the 'hog despite the fact he had to drive a little slower to prevent the engine overheating. They heard the base long before they could see it, not hard considering the ever encroaching fog that swirled around them, dimming the sun and muffling the screams and roars in what John Bower hoped was the distance.

The sound of gunfire drifted in from the distance and Bower knew they were close. Out of the gloom emerged the shape of a large military base, a few large towers around the edge. The 'hog bounced as it went along, rolling over the aging corpses littering the area. A sniper had been at work here.

The radio in his helmet hissed and a strained voice came in, "This is Sergeant Frederic Reed of the UNSC base Beta Zulu to ODST Corporal John Bower, do you hear me? Over." "I read you Sergeant, good to finally hear from someone who isn't on the brink of death, I've got wounded here, requesting permission to enter the base." he replied, doing his best to put authority into his voice, he was an ODST after all. "Sorry Corporal, declined, as you can see we've got too many hostile, I need you to use that 'hog to provide suppressive fire not the bastards so we can throw them off."

"Yes Sergeant, I'll get our gun going asap." he signed off the comm and turned to Smith, "You know how to fire a turret?" the man shook his head, "How about drive a Warthog?" Smith nodded slowly and Bower nodded confidently. "Then get over here, you're driving while I have the gun."

He put the handbrake on and the 'hog ground to a halt, Smith leapt into the driver's seat and Bower headed back for the turret. As he pushed the firing supports into his shoulders he gripped the firing studs, his suit interfacing with the gun and providing him with a targeting reticule. The Warthog leapt forwards and they were off, "Careful!" yelled Bower over the roar of the engine, "Don't let it overheat!" Then, they were into battle. Zombies tried to scatter as Bower opened up with the M12 LAAG, peppering the monsters with bullets holes, they dropped like flies as they practically scythed through the battle field.

After ten minutes of almost constant firing Bower's hands were numb from the vibrations and he had got used to the sight of zombies falling to the ground. The was a small splutter from the 'hog followed by a sharp bang and a red hot cap flew through the air, followed by a spray of boiling coolant. The engine had overheated. Smith screamed as the boiling liquid tumbled over him, burning his skin, leaving hideous welts on his skin as he screamed and writhed in pain. At that moment, the turret ran out of ammo. Desperate, with zombies beginning to lurch their way Bower pulled his pistol, blowing the heads off the closest opponents. He jumped down and grabbed Melissa from the back seat, slinging her unconscious form over his shoulder. He yanked Smith up and out of his seat and put an arm under his shoulders, supporting him as they hobbled towards the base. "Sir! Our 'hog is toast, I need covering fire to get to the base." Bower yelled down the comm, his voice cracking. "Right away Corporal, good job, that's most of the bastards dealt with anyway, snipers will cover you as you approach. There's an entrance at the base of the tower nearest to you, your lucky, it's one of the few that's still passable."

John made slow, painful, progress across the open ground towards the base, grateful for once to have himself under the gaze of a sniper. He could feel ligaments tearing in his legs under the staring of walking and supporting Melissa and James but he had to keep going. As he neared the entrance a single zombie lurched a little too close to him and he stumbled to the side, tumbling to the ground, eliciting a cry of pain from Smith. As it towered over him the zombie's head exploded as a sniper round tore a hole through it, showering the three with gore. Wiping the blood and sweat from his eyes Bower got unsteadily to his feet, hoisting Melissa back over his shoulder and once again supporting James.

In the last few metres to the entrance the hatch slowly slid back revealing a ramp leading down under the wall, a pair of Marines and a medic jogged up the hatch. The Marines relieved Bower of his passengers and the Medic helped him as well, checking with him about the wounds. "Smith has severe burns, malnutrition and a treated wound to the hand, Melissa was bitten but was injected with something to slow down the infection, the bite was cleaned and bandaged and I think I've torn muscles and ligaments in my left leg and we all have plenty of cuts and bruises."

The Medic let out a low whistle as he escorted the group to the Medical Bay, "Lie down." he ordered, motioning for John to get onto the crisp white bed. He willingly complied and, finally safe, lay down. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

**Clear Evidence Of Treachery: January 26th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Beta Zulu Base**

As his eyes slowly opened John Bower's whole body felt numb, he knew it must be pain killers and that didn't surprise him. He groaned as he tried to sit up. The doctor on the other side of the room looked up from his work, a worried look on his face. He strode over to Bower's bedside and gave what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, "Good to see you awake Corporal, you had a lot wrong with you." explained the doctor as he checked the monitors next to him, "What happened? Where are James and Melissa?" he asked, his voice sounded weak, woozy and broken. "After you got back here you crashed out, not surprising considering you had two fractured ribs, ripped muscles in your left leg and more cuts and bruises then I ever though possible. Your lady friend was almost a lost cause but you got her here just in time, she's awake now but she's still not great. The tow of you have been in a medically induced coma for three days. And that other guy, you said his name was James Smith but he's not listed as such, as far as we can tell his name is Major John Smith, ONI officer. We don't know what he was doing here but he's ordered that as soon as you and Lance Corporal Taylor are ready he's taking you and a few others into the city on a special mission. He's going to brief you once you're on your feet."

"Thank you, I'll get dressed now and head over for the briefing, where's Melissa?" asked John, concerned that Smith had lied to him about his identity.

"She's in the next ward over, she's as bad as you are, she's getting ready as we speak, I'll lead you over once you're dressed." Bower smiled and nodded to the doctor as he swung his legs out over the bed, pain shooting through his legs, but he ignored it. He grabbed the fatigues draped across the bedside chair and set about pulling them on. It was several minutes before he was dressed, shaved and ready to go.

Almost as though he was psychic the doctor reappeared and motioned for him to follow him into the next ward. As they walked John looked at the other patients, some bore signs of serious injuries, some had broken limbs, huge gashes running across their faces, and those were just the healthiest ones. It was a dreadful sight, the ward stank of of blood barely controlled by disinfectant. It was like walking through a living graveyard.

As they walked through into the next ward he saw Melissa, already in her fatigues and ready to go. She smiled and nodded, "Good to see you're okay John, I wasn't sure after you had to carry me and James back, the doctors told me. What happened to James?"

"Melissa, Smith lied to us, his name is Major John Smith with Naval Intelligence." Bower growled, ONI had lied to everyone throughout the war and now it was over they still weren't getting any better. "What? Why did he lie to us? The slippery bastard, typical ONI, what are we gonna do about it?" she asked, her voice sounding equally angry at the ONI officer, "I don't know, but I guarantee that if Smith played any part in this I'm gonna make him suffer for it." Bower turned and motioned for the doctor to lead them to Smith's briefing.

The corridors echoed with the sound of gunfire as the Marines on the base's walls did their best to hold off the zombie invasion. The building the doctor lead them towards was at the centre of the base, a small squat structure built more like a bomb shelter than a command centre, had several antennae on the roof and heavy looking steel doors at the front. The doctor approached the entrance and knocked an S.O.S Morse code on the door. There was a metallic clunk from the other side and the door swung open and a rifle barrel appeared through the gap, aimed squarely at the doctor's forehead. The Marine on the other side lowered the gun when he saw who was there and motioned for them to enter.

Once they had gone through the outer entrance and into the heart of the command centre John saw a sight he never though he'd see again. In the the room, leaning against the far wall and talking quietly were Dutch Miles and Mickey Crespo. The two men turned and looks of shock smeared across their faces as they saw John and Melissa. John was stunned, until he was knocked aside as Melissa shoved past him into the room and ran towards the two men, putting an arm around each of them and pulling them into an awkward hug.

"Melissa!" cried Mickey, returning her hug, "I thought we'd lost you, what happened?" he asked. "We crash landed in the middle of nowhere, met up at an Outpost and came here in a Warthog and now we're here." summarized John, strolling over to the others. Dutch stood up a little straighter, pulling himself out of Melissa's hug and patted him on the shoulder, "Good to have you back Corporal, what about Donavon?" concern flickered across Dutch's face as John looked down sadly and shook his head, "I was too later Sir." "You did all you could, we can ask nothing more."

There was a polite cough from behind them and the group whirled around, standing in the doorway, a Marine guard to either side, was Major John Smith. "How touching", said Smith, his voice icy, "Did you know, you are the only recorded survivors from the UNSC _Resolute_ and are therefore the only four people who know what happened on that ship."

Dutch stepped forward, "Sir, we were onboard during a skirmish with Insurrectionist forces above the planet when an EMP device was activated, powering down our engines and forcing us to abandon ship." The Major stepped forward shaking his head and chuckled slightly, "You are a terrible liar Sergeant, Captain Graham Daniels of the UNSC _Resolute_ was an Insurrectionist himself, he took your ship here a week ago and unleashed this plague upon the planet. Now, as part of his crew I can only assume that you follow his cause and so it gives me no pleasure to place you under arrest for the breach of the UNSC Code Article 254-7345-ZN, you do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be taken into evidence at your Court Martial." Smith said, sounding almost machine like, "This is bullshit, Captain Daniels was a good man, he would never have done any of that, he couldn't. He was loyal to the UNSC!" yelled Dutch angrily as the pair of Marines grabbed them and began to drag them away, despite the chorus of objections.

**Spooks: January 26th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Beta Zulu Base**

Dutch groaned from the other side of the cell as he kicked the wall then turned and slid down to the floor on his back. Mickey approached the Sergeant cautiously, "Dutch, I've known you for years and I trust you but I need to know, was what he said true?"

Dutch looked up slowly from his place on the floor, his eyes meeting the Corporal's, "No Mickey it was not true, that Spook lied, like they always lie but this time, this time is gonna be different, we're gonna get outta here, get to the city twelve kilometres west of here and we're going to march up to the Office of Naval Intelligence HQ and we're going to find out what the fuck ONI's been up to this time." Mickey backed away, recognizing the barely contained fury in his CO's voice. "If it helps Sir, I have a plan."

…

Footsteps echoed around the concrete cell block as the guard walked in carry several trays of food stacked up. "Food time ladies!" called the guard, "Dunno why you traitors deserve food but I guess you need live long enough to reach the firing squad." he laughed, finding his own joke hilarious. "Dumb ass." muttered Dutch as he stood up.

As the guard came into sight around the side of the cell entrance the three ODSTs stood up. "Here ya go Innie scum." muttered the guard as he shoved the four trays one at a time through the flap. He looked up at them before he left and the grin left his face. "Where's the other one? Where is he?" roared the guards, pulling his M6C from his holster.

Dutch shrugged and turned away, there was a jangle of keys as the guard cautiously entered the cell as Dutch, Bower and Mickey retreated away into the corner.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere an unknown form dropped down on the hapless guard, bringing down both fists onto the back of his neck, he crumpled to the ground and then spun around to look at his attacker, wildly swinging his pistol around. As he looked up he saw the shape of a regulation ODST boot come crushing down onto his face.

Melissa pulled her foot back from the crumpled face of the guard as she stepped back and admired her handiwork, blood dripped from his broken nose and his jaw appeared to be knocked out of line from the force of her kick.

Dutch strolled over and patted her on the shoulder, "Good job Lance Corporal." he smiled at her, "Now, lets get going before anyone knows what's happening."

Mickey reached down and grabbed the keys from the guard's belt and went to open the door to the cell block. Bower was the last to leave but before he did he looked down and, spotting the guard's pistol lying abandoned on the ground a few feet away, leant down and grabbed the weapon, checking the mag and slipped it into his belt.

Bower cautiously stuck his head out into the corridor that lead to their cell block to check the coast was clear and motioned for the others to follow him. Mercifully there were signs on the walls pointing to different parts of the base and it wasn't long until they found the way to the Armory and Vehicle Depot. For the first time since they had been on the planet Bower was glad for the zombie apocalypse, it meant that most of the base's personnel were either out fighting or in the Med Bay and those who were patrolling the corridors weren't looking for a few escaped prisoners so the journey to the Depot was tense but uneventful.

The door to the Depot slid open as the squad approached revealing a row of Warthogs and a few Marines trying to stop the zombies which were determinedly trying to squeeze through the outer doors. The ground was covered in shell casings but in the corner of the room was a weapons rack complete with SMGs, rifles, grenades and battle rifles. Mickey turned around and grinned maniacally at the others and made for the weapons rack. The others followed suit and kitted up. Mickey and Dutch both went for an 8-gauge pump action shotgun, Melissa selected a three round burst battle rifle and Bower grabbed a standard issue ODST silenced SMG.

The group wheeled around and brought their new armament to bear on their opponents. The rounds smashed into the zombies which were slowly working their way through the now undefended doors. The barrage of buckshot, 9.5 and 23mm rounds slammed into them turning them into shredded husks. "Melissa, get that door open!" called Dutch as he headed over to the nearest troop carrying Warthog to check it over. He climbed up into the driver's seat and started up the engine. It filled the Depot with the roar of 12.0 L liquid-cooled hydrogen-injected ICE power plant.

Melissa was crouched down by the door, stripping wires and splicing them together until, with a loud buzz, the door began to slide open revealing the dark world outside the base. Melissa jogged over as the 'hog pulled forwards and into the centre of the room. John strode over to the vehicle, bandoliers of grenades, sacks of ammunition and a rocket launcher slung over his shoulders. He dumped the lot into the back of the Warthog and climbed up into the passenger's seat. Mickey and Melissa climbed into the back half and Mickey exchanged his shotgun for a battle rifle.

The engine roared and the vehicle leapt forwards, slipping on the blood coated floor, behind them a yell came from the door, Bower looked back to see Smith, a panicked look on his face as he ordered the Marines beside him to open fire. Rounds pinged off the Warthog as the ODSTs ducked down to get some degree of protection from the metal chassis. "Stop them!" roared Smith, his voice somehow audible over the gunfire and the Warthog.

The few zombies still trying to drag their ruined bodies into the base were mown down by the Warthog as it blasted past and out into the wasteland surrounding the base. The area was a mess, dead zombies lay everywhere along with dozens of human corpses, the smell of rotting flesh was terrible and it hung, thick in the air. "That was close!" laughed Mickey over the roar of the engine and looked back at the base, search lights were roaming the area trying to penetrate the darkness and track where their Warthog was heading.

"We need to get to the city thirty kilometres east of the base, ONI HQ is located there and I don't trust those damn spooks, Smith is hiding something. There's no way the _Resolute_ had anything to do with this mess and if ONI had anything to hide it'll be inside the ONI building.

**Biko: January 27th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Near Biko**

The 'hog rocked as it bounced over the rough terrain which made up the remains of the main road to the city of Biko. The city had been officially evacuated days ago but of course with a zombie apocalypse in full swing there was no way to be sure the city was empty, the sheer number of very human screams and the occasional sporadic burst of gunfire, fires flickered from the rubble of ruined buildings, collapsed apartments and abandoned shops. Cast in the flickering light of fires and fluorescent lights slowly dying and the numerous screams and groans of the undead the city was a living hell and all four ODSTs knew it was unlikely they would survive the trip intact.

The all terrain vehicle was filled with the sound of rain hitting metal and the groans of the team as they were instantly soaked through by the sudden downpour. The Warthog skidded as it went around a corner, already a thin film of water covered the ground. Out of the darkness lurched a few zombies which leapt up with surprising and uncharacteristic agility and soared towards the flailing Warthog.

One missed and landed a few feet away, the crack of its' bones breaking not slowing it down as it continued on. The other two landed squarely on the bonnet and roared in anger as the began clawing their way towards the passenger compartment. Bower desperately brought up an SMG to try and shoot off the spawn of Satan trying to get at them but suddenly it was wrenched from his hands and he looked back to see something totally new staring at him. It was thin, almost sinewy in appearance and many of the muscles seemed to be attached to the outside of its' arms and legs. The skin which clung on in places was ghostly pale and dark, almost black veins stuck out across the creature's bald head. It roared at him revealing rows of blackened teeth, blood dripping from between some of the shattered teeth, spattering across John's face.

"Shit!" screamed Bower as he felt the creature grab ahold of his uniform and yank him up and out of the seat, flinging him out of the moving vehicle and onto the ground.

Dutch's head swung around as he heard Bower's scream disappearing into the distance but he was instantly looking forwards again as the windscreen was shattered shattered and bony fist caught him across the jaw. He was knocked senseless for a moment and was almost deafened as Mickey's shotgun blasted the fist clean off. Mickey's victorious whoop was cut short as the Warthog's now out of control, skidded into a nearby streetlamp, bending and knocking it aside then ploughed through the front window of a small shop and slammed with an almighty crash into the shelves knocking them over in a spectacular domino effect. As the three ODSTs dragged themselves from the wreckage Melissa looked down at herself, she was covered in blood and shredded flesh from the deformed monstrosity that had thrown John out before she had a chance to blow the misshapen creature's head off. Then she realised. John.

She leapt to her feet, grabbing up her rifle from the ground and headed out into the street. It was littered with bodies in varying stage of decay, she looked around desperately trying to spot Bower. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement. She whirled around bringing up her rifle until she recognised the figure.

John got unsteadily to his feet, pulling his helmet back onto his head after it had half fallen off from the impact. He looked up and saw another ODST whose figure he instantly recognised, Melissa. He surveyed her, looking her up and down, how could she have survived all that seemingly uninjured. He slowly limped towards her and she followed suit. He hurried towards her and reached out, pulling her into an embrace. She stiffened momentarily, thrown off by the action, it was completely foreign to someone who had spent almost any time in the ODSTs, but then she relaxed and hugged him back, simply standing there, sopping wet but glad they were both alive.

After what seemed like forever they separated, suddenly awkward around each other. Mickey climbed up and over the shattered window frame, had he seen them hug? His suspicions were confirmed as he let out a shrill wolf whistle. Dutch walked past him and looked at him very pointedly, a crash site surrounded by god knows how many dead people was not the place to mess around.

"We need to move", he ordered, "all the noise we just made there are bound to be more zombies coming. Bower what the hell was that thing that grabbed you?" asked Dutch. Bower was silent for a moment, thoughtful, "I don't know but I do have a name for it." he said thoughtfully, Mickey shot him a quizzical look, "A Reaper."

There was a heavy silence for a moment as the group took in the information that a new enemy was out there. "Lets go." ordered Dutch and he headed down an alley between to smoking skyscrapers. Everyone was on edge, they knew just how easily things could go from bad to worse.

**Catacombs: January 27th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Biko**

They heard the gunfire long before they could even see the muzzle flash and the source. After half an hour of winding between looming and ruined buildings the small squad had yet to come across any real opposition and the chance to meet up with some friendly forces, assuming not every UNSC servicemen had been corrupted by Smith into believing the _Resolute_ had been the source of their problems.

As they came around the final corner a last stand opened up before them. A group of three Marines armed with just pistols were firing on a mass of more than twenty zombies which were all too eager to have the Marines join them. "Open fire!" roared Dutch over the gunfire. The ODST squad opened fire, shotgun blasts and a hail of bullets did more than just get the zombies' attention. Bower yanked a grenade from his bandolier and hurled it into the centre of the mob. Three seconds then, boom! The blast tore the nearest zombies into pieces and the shockwave knocked over those outside the blast radius.

The group of Marines stood up from behind their makeshift barricades and moved in to help finish off the zombies. Once the last zombie had been decapitated the two groups moved in together, "I'm Sergeant Dutch Miles of the 105th, who are you?"

"We were part of the group trying to evac the city, I'm Corporal Stevens, and these are Private Smith and Grange, we had to try and clear the storage area beneath the hospital, once we were down there we were hit by something new, some sort of mutant animal, I don't know what it was I didn't get a good look before we had to run. Please, some of my men are trapped in the catacombs, we got separated and they ended up locked in a storage room." explained the pale and extremely tired looking Corporal. The ODSTs shifted uncomfortably, every minute they spent here gave Smith longer to catch up with them, but on the other hand they couldn't just abandon UNSC personnel.

Finally, Dutch spoke, "Mickey and I will take point with our shotguns, clear the way ahead. Melissa and Bower, you follow up behind mop up anything we miss and if it's clear try and look ahead, kill stuff before it gets to us. Corporal Stevens, show us the entrance." The Corporal nodded jerkily and lead them to an entrance in the side of the building, it slid open as they approached revealing a staircase leading down into the gloomy darkness, fluorescent tubes flickered in their mountings along the wall casting the whole scene in hellish light. It illuminated the blood on the walls, blue blood that glowed even when the lights went out. Covenant blood.

The ODSTs shared nervous looks at the sight, "Corporal, did you have any Covenant contact in the tunnels?" asked Dutch, turning back. The Corporal craned his neck to look down and his face lost yet more colour, "Sir, that blood wasn't there when we left…"

Silence reigned once more until Mickey spoke "Dutch, aren't they meant to be our allies now? I mean, I know they don't usually visit our worlds but any Covies in there should be friendly… shouldn't they?"

"Keep your eyes open." Dutch ordered, indirectly answering the question as he headed down the steps, straight into hell.

As soon as they were inside and the small amount of natural light coming in from outside it became disorientating thanks to the flickering lights, "Switch to VISR." ordered Dutch, his voice sounding strained, this mission was getting worse and worse by the minute.

As Bower flicked on his VISR the subterranean world was dimly illuminated and every object was outlined in thin orange lines. As they turned around the corner at the bottom of the stairs almost all of the little light from the door above was lost save for the glow of the Covenant blood.

The group progressed slowly, checking every corner in an almost paranoid manner, but after several minutes they began to relax a little, no sign of any enemy activity. Almost at the edge of his hearing Bower could just make out a faint clinking sound, like something hard tapping on metal. He did his best to push the nagging feeling aside, "Dutch, do we know where the missing troopers are?"

"Negative, I'm relying on FOF tags to locate them, keep sharp until they're in range, it can't be far." Dutch ordered. He sounded on edge, understandable given the situation.

It was back again, that incessant clinking, it was closer now but Bower still couldn't see the source. Then, right at the limit of his motion tracker was a pair of yellow dots, friendly contacts. Mickey breathed a loud sigh of relief and quickened his pace, making for the source of the contacts. Then, totally overpowering the clinking sound was a heavy thumping like something heavy yet soft hitting a hard surface and then, soaring out of the dark leapt a huge demonic creature. It looked as though it was once a dog but that was long ago. The little fur left on it's body was tinged grey-green and hung in matted clumps, it's teeth were yellowed and drool hung from it's jaws. The muscles on it's body looked as though they would look oversized on a body builder, but on a vaguely wolf sized creature they were utterly enormous.

The monstrous creature let out an unearthly gargled roar as it smashed into Mickey, instantly knocking him to the ground and smashing his face plate. The body slumped against the wall, unconscious. Then, apparently bored by the inert prey the creature turned in the rest of the squad gazing at them with green pupiless blood shot eyes and a deep furious growl issued from between it's bared teeth.

By now someone had come to their senses and bullets tore into the animal and it roared again, leaping at them from a crouch, teeth bared and drool hanging down as it opened it's jaws. Dutch strode forward shotgun at the ready a let rip with two blasts into it's side, knocking it aside and it the wall where it hit with a crunch and slid to the ground with a whine. It looked up from where it lay, blood dripping from the wounds on it's side. Not waiting for it to get up Dutch casually strolled over and aimed the shotgun at it's head and pulled the trigger, smearing the wall with greying body matter and bits of brain.

A groan brought everyone back to there senses as Mickey tried and failed to get up, "Mickey!" cried Melissa as she slid down onto the ground next to him and began examining his wounds. His face was shredded from the shattered visor and his chest oozed with blood, the massive claws from the creature had sliced through his kevlar chest piece and diced his lungs. "I don't feel so great…" he moaned, blood oozing from his mouth as he spluttered over the words, Melissa desperately reached into her pack, making for the biofoam canister but Bower walked sadly over to her and gently pushed her hand away and shook his head, there was no way Mickey would make it.

Melissa began to sob and pressed her face into John's shoulder, now openly weeping. "There was nothing we could do, it came out of nowhere." Dutch said, his voice suddenly conveying no emotion whatsoever as he dragged Melissa to her feet, gripping the front of her clothes, "We have to keep moving, if we don't then his life will have been a waste, those missing troopers need us." He shoved her battle rifle into her hands and turned away, back in the direction back the way they were headed before the attack. Dutch was glad for his visor as a single tear slid down his cheek.

**The Covenant: January 27th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Biko**

After they had been forced to leave Mickey behind, a dead body would slow them down too much, they had managed to get close enough to hear the desperate thumping on the door of the trapped Marines and in the distance the roars of more hellish monsters. Not long after they had left Mickey, Bower had once again noticed the incessant clicking, much closer now, sounding almost above them but slightly away and it may have been his imagination but it was getting closer.

As they rounded a corner the reason the Marines were trapped became clear, some sort of explosion or fire damage had caused a roof strut to collapse, barricading the door shut.

"We need to shift the beam." ordered Dutch as he moved over and gave it a kick, not even shifting it. He motioned for the others to join him as he crouched slightly and put his shoulder under the beam, followed by Bower and Melissa. They heaved and shoved at the beam but it wouldn't shift.

"Sir, why not stick a grenade in the gap where it's stuck against the other wall, bring the whole thing down?" asked Melissa as she went over to examine where the beam had dug into the a concrete as it fell from the ceiling and measured the small gap up against a grenade. "It could bring more of the roof down but I guess if we don't try there stuck in there anyway, we don't have the manpower to lift the beam…" his voice trailed off sadly as he remembered why he didn't have the man power. "You two get back round the corner, I'll ram the grenade in and pull the pin." he ordered.

"But Sir…" called Melissa as Bower made to drag her round the corner beyond the door and out the way of the blast. "That's an order _Lance Corporal._" he replied, putting heavy emphasis on the rank before he turned back to the task at hand. "Clear!" yelled Dutch as he rammed the grenade into the gap and pulled the pin. The pin dropped to the ground and Dutch turned, ran three feet and leapt, just sliding round the corner and out of the way of blast just as the groaning sound came from the roof and the beam slid further down, clearing the door but totally demolishing the roof over the corridor they had come from.

"Well the doors clear." said Dutch shrugging, as he went back around the corner as the dust began to settle, revealing the extent of the damage. Power cables hung, sparking, from the ceiling. Slabs of concrete covered the passageway they had come from and the beam had fallen down more back along the corridor, moving it out of the way of the door but brining down most of the roof in the process.

Dutch headed for the door, the thumping had stopped, and he grabbed the handle, yanking the door open.

Inside, his eyes were greeted with a sight he never thought he would see. Lying the ground, back pressed the floor was a Covenant Elite, on top of it was a Reaper, desperately trying to bite the alien and have it join their ranks. Instinctively Dutch brought up his shotgun, both the combatants stared at him until the Reaper let out a gurgling growl and leapt at him. Dutch squeezed the trigger and a cloud of buckshot caught the creature in the side, sending it spinning off into the darkness with a squeal. Just as Bower came around the corner and into the room the clinking was back and he realised what it was. Reapers had been using the ventilation system to get around the building quickly, the sound of their scythe like appendages hitting the steel shafts was the source of the sound.

The elite on the ground groaned and rolled over. Two mandibles were missing, obvious signs of having been bitten off by the now missing Reaper. "What are you doing on this planet, Elite?" snarled Dutch as he gripped the alien by the throat. The creature growled at them and made to stand but stopped when it spotted the pistol pressed to it's forehead. "Human filth, you would deny us our path on the Great Journey, use us as your lab rats, you shall die for your crimes!" the alien snarled through it's remaining mandibles.

"I don't know if you got the memo, ass hole, but you're on our side now." Dutch growled, digging his pistol further into the Elite's forehead. A look of surprise passed over the alien's face but it was quickly replaced by anger and pain, "You lie human, you shall pay for your crimes in the next life! I fear not for my life, the Great Journey lies ahead!" it cried, pain visible on it's face as the skin began to discolour, it's eyes rolled back in it's sockets as it began to convulse in agony. Dutch leapt back away from the Elite as it writhed on the ground before finally laying still.

"How come that elite didn't mutate and what the hell is doing down here, we have to get to the root of the problem, find out what ONI's up to." ordered Dutch, turning back to his team.

Bower gave the Elite a kick for good measure before turning away and following the others out. The passageway the had come in on was impassable thanks to the collapsed roof so they had to keep going, push deeper into the catacombs. The way was messy, the Marines couldn't have got past the door because beyond it was a seemingly endless number of the undead. The lumbered in from side passages, filled the corridor and, despite being cut down with waves of bullets, seemed utterly relentless. The stench of coagulated blood was thick in the air as the squad cut through the teeming hordes.

Just as they began to run low on ammo and the zombies got closer and closer they suddenly seemed to vanish, as the last groaning monster fell to the ground with thump they found themselves very much alone, the silence more terrifying than the constant danger of death. The floor was covered in varying shades of blood up until ten metres behind them, ahead was a single door, no lights were on near it and the zombie appeared to be avoiding it as though they themselves feared it.

As they got closer their VISR system began to make to more and more detail until finally they all realised where they were. On the door was a pyramidal logo with a circle overlaid, the logo, for the Office of Naval Intelligence.

**The Office of Naval Intelligence: January 27th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Biko**

"I guess we need to get it open?" asked Melissa, strolling forwards and kicking the door, eliciting a dull thump. Dutch strode forward and rapped the door with his knuckle, silence followed, "Guess no one's at home, better get this thing open, Bower you got any more explosives?" asked Dutch, turning back to face him.

"Sorry Sir, we used my last grenade to bring down that beam, I've got nothing." explained Bower, "We do still have one option though", Melissa and Dutch shot him quizzical looks, "The Reapers, they use the vents to get around the building, can't we use those to get around the door?" he motioned to the vents running along the ceiling, Dutch nodded.

"Melissa, use your rifle, aim for the bolts holding one of the sections up." he ordered, motioning towards the roof. She shouldered her battle rifle and sent two three round bursts out, cutting through the brackets holding the shaft onto the roof. One end of the section leading up above the door swung ponderously down, the groan of metal echoing in the empty corridor.

Just as Bower was making to head up the shaft Dutch grabbed his shoulder, "Be careful, you're taking the lead but we don't know what's up there. Stay sharp." John nodded and brought his SMG to bear. He had the shortest of their three weapons which would make it easier for him to handle in the close quarters of the ventilation shaft.

As he began up he was glad of the ridges on the shaft, he was able to get his hands around them ad pull himself up. After several minutes of heaving he was up into the main shaft and crawling his way along. He could hear the clatter of Reapers echoing around him, he just hoped he would be able to exit before he reached them, behind him he could hear the quick breaths of Melissa as she followed him up, and behind that the heavy thuds of Dutch's boots. The echoes made it impossible to gauge how far away the Reapers were, he had to be constantly alert. Suddenly, the clatter seemed to be almost on top of them, he looked up, drawing in sharp breath as he saw tiny indentations being made in the metal with each clack, the Reaper was outside the shaft. He quickly gave Melissa the signal to stop, and she relayed it to Dutch and they all froze.

The clatter stopped, the creature was waiting for them to make the next move, did it know they were there? Bower prayed it was ignorant. Then, as if in answer to his prayers the clatter started again and the Reaper moved away, bak the way they had come from. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and moved on.

Suddenly, all around them was the screech of metal being sliced, ahead and behind the small group Reaper scythes protruded through the walls of the shaft, almost cutting Bower in the face. One of the monsters yowled, clearly beneath them, as the shaft fell from the ceiling and the weight of three ODSTs landed heavily on top of it. They just lay there for a moment, dust settling around them, then, at the end of the shaft, a Reaper stuck it's head around the corner and roared at them, furious spittle flying from it's deformed jaws. It began to haphazardly make it's way down the short stretch of shaft between them and it. It tripped over the ribs in the shaft as it went, claws sliding on the metal as it scrambled.

Bower pulled up his SMG and unleashed a burst at the creature, knocking it off it's feet. It snarled at him, baring it's mangled teeth at him as it tried to regain purchase on the ground. Bower let off another burst, popping the creature's skull and coating the inside of the tube with gore. He wiped the worst of it from his faceplate and looked behind him to see Melissa wrestling with another Reaper, the two in a pitched battle, smashing each other into the walls of the shaft, Dutch trying to get a straight shot at the creature.

Suddenly, with renewed energy, the Reaper shoved forwards, knocking her into the wall of the container, unconscious. The Reaper, seemingly content that she was out of the fight, turned on Dutch and dove at him. It lunged forwards, scythe like hands reaching for his throat. He fired desperately with his shotgun but all only caught it in the side. The shot saved his life, it knocked the Reaper slightly to the side and it's blade missed his neck and left and deep cut across her face and chest. Blood poured from the wound and he screamed in pain and terror as the Reaper reared up as best it could in the small shaft and prepared to bring down it's scythe into his chest.

Then, as if from nowhere, a blade stuck through the centre of the Reaper's head. It twisted, shattering the rotting skull in a shower of blood and bone. It sprayed over them and with a roar, the likes of which Bower had ever heard, Melissa ripped the blade out of the remains of the skull and let the corpse drop. Her helmet lay on the ground, visor cracked, her face as covered in blood, not all of it her own.

Dutch brought them all back to their senses as she let out a quiet groan. He lay on the ground, clutching his face, the blood streaming from between his fingers. Bower was by her side in a moment, "Dutch! It'll be ok, hold on." yelled Bower as he yanked the Medkit from his pack and yanked open the lid, the contents tumbling to the ground. He prepared to wrap his friend's face in a bandage to soak up the blood but he pushed it away. "Leave me." he groan, the blood around his mouth bubbling as the air left his lips. With a gloved hand he wiped some of the blood away, his face had a massive gash taken out of it, from his forehead diagonally down, going right through his eye and lip. Even as he wiped it away more blood poured from the wounds, well beyond the healing abilities of any Medkit.

Dutch smiled slightly, and spoke again "John, I need you to do me one last favour." he groaned, "Anything!" yelled Bower, desperate to hear his friend's last wish.

"Prove-" he coughed, blood bubbling around his mouth as he did, "Prove it wasn't us, prove we're not to blame, the Captain, he was a good man… Show the Spook lied…" he gasped in a last breath, blood pooling on his chest, and died.

Bower's head fell, he shut his eyes not wanting to see his friend's face any more. Beside him he heard Melissa sniff and begin to sob as the realization hit them, Dutch was dead, their leader was dead. By now Melissa had broken down into a fit of crying, her tears dripping into the pools of blood on the floor.

Bower knew, however painful it was, that they couldn't stay there. The longer they did the more likely it was more zombies would come and besides, he'd made a promise to his friend, he had to get into the Office of Naval Intelligence and find proof that the crew of the _Resolute_ was not to blame for the apocalypse. He looked up, avoiding looking down and turned away, crawling towards the end of the shaft, "Melissa, we have to move, the longer we wait the more likely we are to get attacked."

She sniffed once, gathering herself, she pulled her helmet on and crawled past the body and out of the collapsed shaft. Finally out of it they could see where they had ended up, they were beyond the door, that much was clear but what was this place?

Bower made to head on down the corridor away from the door but he stopped, the sweet sickly smell of death was thick in the air, so thick it was like breathing soup. In the distance he could hear the groans and moans of zombies, wandering in the darkness. He had no idea what he would find in the ONI building but he knew one thing, he had to fulfill his promise.

Their boots thumped loudly on the metal floors as they made their way deeper into the Office of Naval Intelligence, the ever present sound of the dead keeping them on edge. After a few minutes of silent walking they came to an intersection, down to the left and right were pitch black, no sign of movement although that didn't mean there wasn't any, straight ahead of them, mounted on the wall was a terminal. Next to it, stood a single zombie, Bower had no idea how it hadn't heard them coming but was silently thankful it hadn't. Slowly, he silently crept up behind it, silenced pistol in one hand, knife in the other and he jabbed forwards with the knife, plunging it into the neck of the zombie. The creature gargled for a moment then fell to the ground without a sound. Bower put a bullet through it's head for good measure.

He turned and motioned for Melissa to come over. Turning back to the terminal he tapped the screen lightly, eliciting an Office of Naval Intelligence logo to appear on the now illuminated screen which was quickly replaced by a password protection. He brought his fist down on the console with a thump, denting the corner or the console. He bent his head down and shut his eyes, with no way to access the building's systems and get a map of the place they could wander for hours. "John." Melissa whispered into his ear, "Look." Bower opened his eyes and saw the screen had resolved into a clearly artificial face, "This is UNSC AI Solipsil, Serial number: SLP 0391-5. Please state your name and purpose within this classified facility." the voice sounded almost emotionless, more machine than AI. "I'm Corporal John Bower, previously stationed aboard the UNSC _Resolute_ prior to it's destruction in orbit two days ago. We need to find out what created the zombies so that we can stop them and clear the names of every single crewman of the _Resolute_ who are currently being falsely accused of causing this mess and I want you to help us."

The AI was silent for a moment before replying, "All files pertaining to this facility and all research carried out here are classified top secret, requiring well above the rank of a Corporal to access."

Suddenly, as if from nowhere a voice resounded out of the darkness "What about an ONI lieutenant?" Bower and Melissa wheeled around, guns pointed to the source of the voice.

Further back down the corridor stood a man in tired looking ONI uniform, his face so gaunt he looked almost dead. Bower strode forward, no way in hell was he trusting someone from the same organization that had branded him a traitor, "Who are you?" he demanded, pushing the barrel of his pistol into the man's temple. "Lieutenant John Smith, Office of Naval Intelligence." he replied.

Bower brought his face closer to Smith's, "Ever considered that the reason no one trusts ONI is because no one knows your real names?" he whispered dangerously.

"Please, let me help, I've seen stuff in this place I can't unsee, helped in things I regret but I want to help." he begged.

"Can you get us into the system?" growled Bower, twisting his pistol back and forth to make the Lieutenant's position clear, "Yes", he replied, his voice panicked, "I have the clearance to access the files you want."

Bower grabbed the man by his loose fitting uniform and shoved him in the direction of the console. Smith stumbled a little but regained balance by grabbing the console. He pushed himself up a little and his fingers began flitting over the keys, typing in some top secret and unknown password. The AI voice returned, "Welcome Lieutenant Smith, it's good to see you're still alive."

"Thanks Solipsil, I need access to all files related to Major Smith's project." he ordered.

"Certainly Sir."

_**Project 27-X ONI Centre on Draxus Prime**_

_**Videologs of Doctor Graham Daniels**_

_**19/5/2552**_

_It finally worked! The gas can be spread through the ventilation systems on enemy ships and stimulate increased aggression in the subjects brains, this means we can turn them against each other and immobilize a ship without firing a shot. _

_We've brought in a few Covies in to test it on them and make sure it works. A few elites, a jackal and two grunts. ONI's pushing me to get this drug ready asap so they can start using it. They don't understand we can't rush this. We have to carry out carefully controlled tests to make sure it works without any unforeseen side effects. I don't care if it harms the Covenant but if we ever have any accidents here I want to know things aren't going to get out of control. I just hope Smith doesn't get carried away, I don't trust him._

_**25/10/2552**_

_Months of tests, restructuring the drug and finally it's working the way it should be on all the captured Covenant species, even the grunts with their damn respirator masks. Lucky it passes through their skin. _

_Smith's been away for weeks, the rumour mill been hard at work. Some say ONI kicked him off the project but that's unlikely, they wouldn't throw someone that high up off their project without warning. Best rumour I've heard was that he went off with some freighter testing out some new biological weapon out but I can only speculate._

_**31/12/2552**_

_I almost thought I'd be glad when Smith got back but his trip seems to have driven him crazy. He's obsessed with creating some biological weapon linked to whatever he was doing while he was away. Keeps saying it worked on the Mona Lisa so it'll work anywhere. I tried to get him off the idea but he went crazy._

_I don't understand why he wants the drug to change those exposed to it on a cellular level. I'm going to have to speak to his superiors, I think he's lost it and there's no place for that in a project like this._

_**15/1/2553**_

_The talks with command didn't go well, they're sure Smith is totally capable of completing the project and now Smith knows I went to them I won't last long. I just hope I can pursued him that creating something as dangerous as what he wants isn't a good thing._

_If his toxins ever got loose… it could spell the end of humanity. There's only one option, I have to either destroy all data on the project or kill Smith. Since I no longer have access to the good Major's work it'll have to be the latter. I don't care if I get shot for it I have to stop him, there's too much at risk._

_**20/1/2553**_

_Finally, today's the day. Smith wants to demonstrate to me and some of the other scientists that his work is perfectly reasonable by showing us it in action. I dread to think what it is but I don't think it's going to end well._

_I must bring my pistol to the presentation and, once it's over end this. The only thing that will stop Smith now is a bullet in his skull. I discussed it with Doctor Stevens and she agrees, Smith is out of control. This may well be my last entry so to whoever is reading this, know this. Doctor Graham Daniels did his utmost to stop Major Smith from causing what could be one of the most serious crises in human history._

_**21/1/2553**_

_I have failed. The presentation was a disaster, Smith had fooled a lab technician into entering a sealed chamber and pumped in his experimental gas. The tech went mad, starting clawing at the window between us, practically frothing at the mouth. Even Smith seemed stunned by it. Then he collapsed and started convulsing on the floor, we could see things moving under his skin, his body changing, almost rotting around him._

_After several minutes he got up and began hammering on the glass with renewed force. After a few swings the glass cracked and after another it shattered. The tech leapt through the glass and onto Doctor Stevens, gnawing at her face. I swear I can still hear her screams even now. Being a typical spook Smith legged it as soon as things went wrong. I don't know where he is now but I hope the bastard's dead. _

_I only just got out alive myself and sealed myself in the panic room with a Lieutenant John Smith, every ONI agent seems to have that name, I don't know how long we'll last. We only have enough food to last a few days. God I hope we don't get found by whatever that tech turned into…_

**Lost and Found: January 28th 2553**

**Location: ONI Building, Surface of Draxus Prime, Biko**

Bower turned around slowly to face the Lieutenant, "What's your real name spook?" he asked quietly. "Steven Parr." he replied sadly, glancing back to the door through which he had come. Lying on the floor just inside was a face Bower recognised from the videologs, Doctor Graham Daniels.

Bower's eyes burned with silent rage as he turned and marched back over to the now silent terminal and accessed the information about the building searching for an exit. He was so absorbed in his work he hardly noticed the steady thumps of the zombie approaching him from the shadows until he heard it's rasping breath.

He backed away from the terminal, two gunshots went off just behind his head and two black holes appeared in the zombie's forehead before it collapsed, thudding into the terminal and knocking it away from the wall so it hung there, lifeless, save for a few sparking wires. Bower slowly made his way towards the terminal again, pistol held at the ready should it be required. Still holding the gun up he leant down and lifted up the terminal it soon became clear that it was broken beyond repair.

"Melissa, please say you got a copy of that data already", she nodded in response, "Good, Parr, I need and exit asap, we're going to take the data back to the UNSC base and HighCom is I have to, either way Smith is going to regret toying with things beyond his control." Bower explained.

"Right away, follow me." replied Parr, walking on past them and into the darkness. John and Melissa gave each other concerned looks and flicked on their head torches before continuing after the Lieutenant who had succumbed surprisingly to the orders of a mere Corporal.

The walk was uneventful as they made their way through the twisting corridors of the ONI sublevels until they finally came to a dead end with a lift door. Parr walked over to the door and pressed the button, to no avail. He turned back to John and Melissa, "Power's out and this is the only way up from the sublevels, security measure in case anything like this happened, for all the good it must have done once the gas leak filled the shaft and the upper levels."

Pushing the smaller man aside Bower headed over the doors but stopped short, "Lieutenant, care to explain why your alive and well if this gas was leaking everywhere?"

"I managed to enter the panic room before I was effected, the room has air filters, and we only had so much of the gas, it would diffused within a day or two." explained Parr.

Bower nodded, satisfied for the moment and turned back to the doors. He managed to hook his fingers around the edge of one of the doors and grinned behind his mask, "Melissa, you still got those ascenders from the _Resolute_?"

"I think so, I'll just check my pack." she replied as she rummaged through it. A few moments later she turned back to Bower and handed him two ascenders, keeping one for herself. Bower handed one to Parr and explained how it worked, "Green button is up, red is down. Clip the thing to the lift cable and head up to ground level, we'll follow you up."

Parr nodded and walked over to the lift door and reached out towards the cable, but couldn't quiet reach. He turned around and offered Bower a pleading look, as if in response Melissa strode forward and shoved Parr forwards into the shaft. He screamed and desperately clipped the ascender onto the cable and he stopped with a jerk.

Bower turned and gave Melissa an incredulous look, she shrugged back and ran forward leaping into the shaft and clipping onto the cable and followed the Lieutenant up the cable. Bower too shrugged and followed suit.

The motor in his ascender began to whir and he shot up the cable. As he looked up above him he could make out the shape of Melissa above and could see as he slowly came to a halt. Up above he could see Parr swinging back and forth trying to reach the emergency open button, as he gained momentum his foot came closer and closer to kicking the button until suddenly it connected and the ground floor lift door opened with a snap his.

Suddenly, through the gap leapt a reaper, it grabbed onto Parr, sinking it's blades into his chest. The Lieutenant screamed and let go of the ascender, together he and reaper tumbled down past Melissa and Bower. A spray of blood flicked across Bower's visor as the two went screaming past him. Melissa accelerated a bit further up until she was level with the entrance and saw what had blasted the reaper through the door. Just ahead of her stood Mickey.

She leapt forwards, just managing to grab onto the edge of the floor and pulled herself up and rushed forwards, pulling her friend into a hug. From behind them they heard Bower's motor pulling him up to their level and as the two turned around the saw John, his visor depolarized and a look of shock on his face.

Once he too had exited the shaft and greeted Mickey back from the dead he asked the necessary question, "How the hell are you alive?"

Mickey chuckled slightly before replying, "After that thing attacked me and I fell unconscious from my injuries, next thing I know I wake up and those Marines from the surface were there asking what caused the explosion they heard. Obviously I had no idea what had happened until I reached the cave in. We headed back up to the surface and I managed to get you guys on the FOF tags. Once I realised where you were heading we hot tailed it down here to try and help. And hey where's Dutch?" he asked

Bower shook his head sadly, the look on his face revealed that this wasn't the first friend he had lost and it wouldn't be the last.

John could hardly believe it, Mickey was alive, maybe with the data they had gathered from the sublevels they could clear the names of the crew from the _Resolute_ and Dutch wouldn't have died in vain. "The Marines are just waiting outside, making sure no zombies followed me in." he motioned for the others to come with him.

As the group made their way outside Bower could feel the eyes of the Marines on him, almost in a state of awe that three of the UNSC's best were there, John suddenly knew how the legendary Spartans had felt.

"Mickey, we've got data that clears the names of everyone from the _Resolute_ and puts the blame where it belongs, on Smith's shoulders." he turned to the two Marines, "You two, where's the nearest place we can get transport off planet?"

The two Marines looked at each other cautiously, "Spaceport, the zombies hit so fast no one had a chance to run but that place was full of people, they'll all be zombies now. There's no way in hell we'd make."

Mickey grinned, "Well it's a good job we're Helljumpers, we'll be right at home."

The three ODSTs headed off in the direction of the spaceport, followed a moment later by two very hesitant Marines.

**Major John Smith: January 28th 2553**

**Location: Surface of Draxus Prime, Biko**

Melissa eyed the entrance to the spaceport with her battle rifle scope and turned back to the others, her expression grim. "There's more zombies than I can count, the normal ones sure but loads of reapers and those psycho dogs as well, there's no way we'll make it."

Suddenly, one of the Marines piped up, if you want I'll head over there", he pointed to the other side of the plaza, "and draw them away, give you a chance to get in there while they're distracted." his voice sounded nervous but it struck a note with the other Marine.

"I'll go to, two guns pointing at 'em will keep them even more occupied." he nodded to his friend and smiled slightly. "Alright then, you two get round there now and I'll give you a signal to begin. Melissa, John, you're with me we'll run for it once the zombies are heading the other way, do not open fire and if you must only use silenced weapons. If the zombies see us we may as well shoot ourselves." Mickey ordered.

As soon as he was finished the two Marines turned and sprinted over to the other side of the plaza and took up positions behind some concrete plant containers and leveled their rifle at the zombies. "Now!" Mickey called over the comm and a burst of gunfire came forth from the two Marines. Almost as one every zombie turned and began to amble towards them, the reapers sticking to the high ground and clambering along the side of any buildings all heading for the two Marines. One of the pulled a grenade and hurled it into the oncoming hoard and then they ran.

Mickey, John and Melissa had no time to watch the battle begin as they sprinted as fast as they could across the plaza and in through the shattered rims of the glass doors.

Inside it was a blood bath, there was blood everywhere, corpses so mangled even the zombies couldn't use them. Worst of all was the fact that many of the dead were women and children, one small child looked as though she had had half her face ripped off, her teddy bear still clenched in her cold dead hands.

Melissa choked back a sob at the carnage. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two gunshots rang out in silent room, echoing off the marble clad walls and filling Bower with dread. He felt both shots hit him square in the back, thudding into his armour like a train. He fell to the ground with a yell, he spun around, as much as it hurt he had to know what had happened.

A single figure stepped out of the gloom, wearing the grey uniform of the Office of Naval Intelligence and with the insignia of a Major on his uniform Bower instantly recognised the man. Major John Smith.

John got unsteadily to his feet, "You…" he groaned.

"Yes", the Major cooed, "Me. Did you really think you could get away from me that easily, I mean, I do work in the Office of Naval _Intelligence_." He put heavy emphasis on the word as he strode over, pistol pointed straight at John's face.

"The game's up Smith, even if you kill one of us, you can't take us all down." growled Mickey as he strode over and pointed his own pistol at Smith.

The Major simply laughed a put the gun closer to Bower's face, "The difference, Corporal, is that you don't want to shoot me because then I shoot your buddy here. Now, you tell me what evidence you have that you think will stop me?"

"We have the videologs of the late Doctor Graham Daniels and when the Brass sees them they'll be looking for a scape goat to blame for the loss of an entire colony. I'm sure you'll fit that description nicely, and better still you deserve it." laughed Melissa, she too brought up her weapon to point at Smith.

Then, Bower realised with a slow dread what Smith had done, as he looked past the insane Major he could see all the zombies which had been going after the Marines ambling their way back towards the spaceport having heard the sound of gunfire.

Quickly John muted his helmet speakers and opened a comm to Melissa and Mickey, "Guys, Smith let the zombies know we were here when he shot me. Once they get close and he realises they're there I'll get up and grab him, we'll take him with us. You two make a break for the transports, I'll be right behind you."

"John, you'd never survive it, you'd end up dead, just like Donovan, just like Dutch, just like everyone else from the _Resolute_." Mickey replied

"I can do it, trust me, besides can you see any other way out of this that won't involve us all dying?" Bower snapped back.

"Fine, fine, have it you're way. Melissa, get ready to leg it for the landing pads, we're leaving." Mickey ordered.

The zombies slowly came inexorably closer as Mickey kept talking to Smith, anything to keep him busy. After several minutes the first of the zombies made it over the threshold and began crunching on the glass. Smith wheeled around a look of shock smeared across his face. Bower leapt up off the ground, "Go!" he yelled to Mickey and Melissa as they turned and ran. John lifted his arm up and brought it down on the back of Smith's neck. He slumped to the ground unconscious.

Bower grabbed his pistol off the ground and quickly shot the nearest few zombies before grabbing the Major and dragging him through the spaceport and out into the open area of the landing pads. Through the mist like rain that now fell Bower could make out the running lights of a ship and the sound of engines.

Behind him Bower could hear the roars of the reapers as they desperately fought to be the one to claim him. The lights slowly came closer as he dragged his own weight and that of Smith towards the ship.

Beside the ship was a staircase leading up to the door, through which light poured and he could see the silhouette of Melissa, helmet now removed yelling at him to hurry. He reached the steps just as the first reapers arrived. One brought down it's scythe like claw, slicing it deep into the back of his calf. He fell on the steps in agony, Melissa rushed down to help and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, his hand still holding onto the Major's uniform. As he cleared the threshold and got into the ship he turned and pulled out his pistol covering Melissa as she dragged Smith the last few steps and threw him aboard.

She yanked the door shut and it thudded as a reaper threw itself against it. "Mickey, we need to go, now!" she yelled into the cockpit. The engines fired up and the ship accelerated away with surprising speed, the steady rain of thumps as the reapers desperately tried to claw their way inside slowly receded as the accelerated down the runway until they had enough speed and then they were up, and soaring into the darkened skies of Biko.

**End Game: January 28th 2553**

**Location: Onboard the Civilian Ship_ Maria_, In Slipspce**

Bower lay back on the floor as he breathed a sigh of relief, they had made it, Biko was behind them and they were on their way home.

Mickey walked through from the cockpit, a satisfied look on his face… until he saw John. His leg was oozing blood but worse still was the skin across his body, it was slowly turning and dull green colour.

The reaper that had shredded had leg had done more than just that, Bower was now as infected as the zombies and with no cure aboard the ship there was no way to save him. He looked up and saw Melissa preparing to give him some biofoam, he gently pushed her hand away and shook his head, he lifted his arm and pointed to her pistol. She shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.

Mickey joined them and pulled his own pistol out and pointed it at Bower's temple, "I'm sorry John, I'm so so sorry." he whispered.

"Don't be", Bower replied, "Just make sure Smith gets what he deserves, do your utmost or I'll haunt you 'til the day you die." he let out a rasping laugh.

"Melissa, goodbye, you're an amazing woman, one of the best I've ever known. You never gave up back on Biko despite everything. All I can say though, is goodbye."

Just as Mickey's finger pulled down on the trigger Melissa replied, "John, I lov-"

And his vision went dark.


End file.
